Estate gift to McDaniel College to fund student-faculty research

An estate gift of $420,000 will soon enrich opportunities for student-faculty research. Alumna Nancy Gardner Gaston, class of 1962, who died April 2011, had bequeathed this generous gift to establish the Nancy C. Gaston Fund for Student-Faculty Research.

During her years on the Hill, Gaston majored in Home Economics and frequently praised her education at WMC as “well-rounded” and taught by “excellent faculty who were dedicated to students.”

Beloved by her students, she taught home economics for 31 years with the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. She also was a docent in the State’s Governor’s House, served as director for both the Anne Arundel County Historical Society , the Anne Arundel Retired Teachers Association and the Anne Arundel Public Library Board, and was active in her community of Linthicum Heights, Md.

Gaston also was an accomplished organist playing for many small churches or serving as a substitute in her home church. She was married to Charles “Bill” Gaston for 42 years until his death in 2008. He was a project engineer for the National Security Agency (NSA).

“She was sharp as a briar,” says her WMC classmate and one-time lab partner Manetta Pusey. They were friends long after earning their diplomas, were bridesmaids in each other’s weddings, and more recently, the Gastons often traveled to Salisbury, Md., to share the holidays with the Puseys.

“[Nancy] was someone you just wanted to be around,” said Pusey. “She did so many things for people, no one could out give Nancy.”